Beibei Park

　　Beibei Park is a second-tier standardized management park in Chongqing, located on Flame Mountain in the center of Beibei District on the southern bank of the Jialing River, covering an area of 7.43 hectares. It enjoys a prime location, surrounded by streets on all sides, offering very convenient transportation. The park features the Zuo Fu Memorial Garden, a bonsai garden, pheasant animal exhibitions, and leisure tea gardens. It is a comprehensive mountain park that blends cultural and natural landscapes, integrating leisure and entertainment, and was opened to the public free of charge on May 1, 2005.

　　The original site of Beibei Park was the Dongyue Temple on Flame Mountain, which is situated at a high elevation. From here, visitors can overlook the urban streetscape of Beibei and the sailing boats on the Jialing River up close, and gaze at distant mountain, water, and gorge views such as Jinyun Mountain, Fei’e Mountain, Jigong Mountain, Guanyin Gorge, and Wentang Gorge, making it ideal for sightseeing and relaxation. In 1930, the renowned patriotic industrialist Mr. Lu Zuofu, who was also the former director of the Jialing River Three Gorges Defense Bureau, demolished the temple’s deities to establish the Gorge District Museum. He developed over twenty acres of burial land and thirty acres of wasteland and farmland nearby, marking the beginning of the park and zoo construction. It was initially named “Beibei Flame Mountain Park” and was soon renamed “Beibei Civilian Park.” The animals were initially bred as quality poultry and livestock, but were gradually transitioned to wild animals for display. After enduring the Anti-Japanese War and the civil war, the park fell into near abandonment and was taken over in 1950 by the Cultural and Educational Department of the Beibei Military Control Commission, renamed “Beibei Park,” incorporated into the national public institution system, and gradually developed and expanded.

　　The plant arrangement in Beibei Park follows a natural yet well-organized design, with a harmonious combination of trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, and bamboos, creating an elegant, rustic, and wild natural landscape. In its early stages, the park had a forest coverage rate of about fifty percent. Over decades of development, it has formed unique plant attractions and scenic areas typical of a mountain park, now boasting lush trees, abundant flowers, and a green coverage rate of over ninety percent. Towering trees are densely planted across the park, with various flowers, shrubs, and ground covers beneath them. There are several rare ancient trees, four of which have been designated as second-class protected trees in Chongqing. Especially along the stairway from the park’s front entrance, dense, tall osmanthus trees flank the path, forming a rich, four-season-changing vertical plant landscape alongside rhapis palms, crape myrtles, camellias, and ground covers. In summer, the vibrant crape myrtle flowers blaze like fire, gently swaying in the breeze; in autumn, the slender osmanthus trees are dotted with red and white blossoms, filling the air with a rich fragrance that drifts for miles; in winter, the camellias bloom in brilliant hues, competing in beauty and exuding a lively spring-like vibrancy despite the cold season. The Yiyuan scenic area mainly features spring flowers, with key plantings including crabapple, Bauhinia, wisteria, and azaleas. In early spring, bright red crabapple blossoms cluster along the branches, eye-catching and radiant, while the crimson Bauhinia dances gracefully in the wind, accompanied by the sound of a flowing waterfall.

　　Beibei Park has consistently maintained animal displays. Initially starting with the breeding of quality poultry, it later expanded to include exhibits of fierce animals such as tigers, lions, and wolves, as well as other wildlife. Over time, as understanding of animal welfare evolved, the original enclosures became unsuitable for animal habitation, leading to the gradual phasing out of large predators. Nowadays, the park mainly displays pheasants and small animals that are particularly popular with children.

　　Following its redevelopment, Beibei Park has become a representative of Chongqing’s mountain parks. It serves as a regional, comprehensive leisure park in the city center of Beibei, and as a stop along the tourist route of the Jinyun Mountain–Beibei Hot Springs–Diaoyu City Scenic Area. With its beautiful ecological garden landscapes, historical and cultural elements related to Lu Zuofu, and its flower and bird exhibitions, it attracts visitors from all over.